I Am Born

With a squalling wail,
I came into this world –
a scrap of nothing –
and I lay there,
child of innocence,
in a world of happiness.

But I never saw the look
upon my mother’s dying face.

While those around me sped
with haste, I had no intimation
that something tragic came
of bringing me to my first breath.

Then quiet filled the room,
as I did what was so natural,
and smiled at her who gave me life,
oblivious to distress.

Written 2009. Published with Poetry.com, 2013.